Huntsman Spider

Spiders, Pacific Northwest

Huntsman Spider, Photo By Bud Logan

The Huntsman Spider is grey to light brown in color, with a rectangular, elongated abdomen, and 4 pairs of long legs. This spider’s body is approximately 1 cm in length, and with legs extended – up to 5 cm long.

Adults tend to hide during the day, and become active at night when they search for food, such as plant juices, and dead or sometimes living, insects.

When they move, the second pair of legs, the longest, touch the surface in search of food. If something edible is found, they begin a teetering motion, tilting their bodies forward to grab their prey.

Huntsman spiders are one of the most well known insects in the world, but they are actually not true spiders. There are over 6,500 different species of these spiders, which are also called cellar spiders and skull spiders!

There is an urban legend that says these spiders are the most venomous creatures in the world, but with fangs that are too small to pierce the skin of a human. This is false, and in fact, this spider has no venom glands or fangs, but instead has chelicerae.

These spiders will often feed on small insects, fungus, dead organisms, and fecal matter.